Cardiac Surgery

In many instances, heart conditions can be treated with lifestyle changes, medicines or minor medical procedures. However, if these treatments haven’t worked or can’t be used to treat your cardiac condition, heart surgery might be an option. Heart surgery is used to treat many heart problems, including:

Heart failure and coronary heart disease (CHD)

Faulty heart valves

Irregular heart rhythms

Medical device placement

Damaged heart replacement

When considering heart surgery, Tenet Florida Physician Services has the trained specialists you need. Your primary care doctor, cardiologist, and cardiothoracic surgeon (specialist in surgery on the heart and lungs) will work with you to decide whether heart surgery is the best treatment option for you.

Diagnoses & Procedures

As part of the decision-making process, you will undergo an extensive medical evaluation, which may include blood tests, as well as any number of diagnostic tests, including:

Angiogram

EKG

Cardiac catheterization

Chest X-ray

Cardiac CT

Cardiac MRI

These tests are performed to find out more about your heart problem and your general health, which helps doctors decide which type of surgery is appropriate for you. Some of the more common heart surgeries include:

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, pronounced “cabbage”)

Cardiothoracic surgery

Aortic Surgery

Congenital heart surgery

Open heart surgery

Pediatric heart surgery

Valve surgery

The Risks

Though its results often are excellent, heart surgery does have some risks. Risks may include:

Bleeding

Infection, fever, swelling and other signs of inflammation

A reaction to anesthesia

Arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats)

Damage to tissues in the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs

Stroke, which may cause short-term or permanent damage

Death (More likely to occur in people who are very sick before the surgery)

In general, the risk of complications is higher if heart surgery is done in an emergency situation (for example, during a heart attack). The risk also is higher if you have other underlying diseases or conditions, such as diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease, or peripheral arterial disease. Your cardiac specialists at Tenet Florida Physician Services will go over the potential risks with you and help determine the course of treatment that’s best for you.

Our Care

With hundreds of heart surgeries performed annually in our network, including the first pediatric open heart surgery in Palm Beach County, Tenet Florida Physician Services heart surgeons and cardiologists strive to help patients achieve better outcomes, quicker recovery times, shorter hospital stays, and ultimately, better health. Tenet Florida Physician Services has played a crucial role in South Florida’s heart health. Today, we’re ranked as one of the top physician groups in Florida for Cardiac Surgery by HealthGrades, and we’re recipients of American Heart Association awards.

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About TFPS

Tenet Florida Physician Services (TFPS), a division of Tenet Healthcare Corporation, is a multi-specialty physician group that has provided care to the South Florida communities of West Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade counties since 2007.